1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermal power generator for generating electric power by utilizing a high heat source and a low heat source, and particularly improves an electric power generating effect by providing an evaporator, vapor-liquid separator, absorber and regenerator, increases thermal efficiency of the evaporator and condenser, and reduces the costs of constructing the apparatus.
2. Related Art Statement
An oceanic thermal power generator of this kind for obtaining electric power by utilizing a temperature difference between warm sea water at high temperature in an oceanic surface layer and cold sea water at low temperature in an oceanic deep layer has hitherto been constructed, by using an evaporator, a turbine connected to a generator, and a condenser as a main apparatus. Warm sea water is circulated through an evaporator, and cold sea water is circulated through a condenser. A working fluid is evaporated using a temperature difference between the warm and cold sea water, and condensed. A turbine is driven in this period to generate power. However, the warm sea water circulated through the evaporator is extracted from a surface layer of the ocean having a temperature as high as 15.degree.-33.degree. C., and plankton, spawn and dirt floated therein adhere to a heat transfer surface of the main apparatus, so that the thermal conductivity efficiency is disadvantageously lowered. As a general method of preventing stains for removing such disadvantage, there is a method of preventing planktonic stains by injecting chlorine into circulating sea water, or providing an electrode in circulated sea water and generating chloride by electrolysis. There is also a method of preventing any other stains by circulating sponge balls, brush and the like with circulated sea water through the main apparatus. However, since the thermal exchange temperature difference is small in oceanic thermal power generation, the amount of needed circulated sea water is enormous. As a result, such general methods of preventing stains produces problems such as high cost, environmental pollution and the like. That is, the method of using sponge balls, brush and the like requires many sponge balls and brushes, and results in a lowering of net output by increasing power consumption based on an increase of circulated resistance, and further results in an increase of the cost of the equipment and an increase of a power generation unit cost.
Therefore, the prior oceanic thermal power generator is not applicable to a general method of preventing stains and is disadvantageously high in cost.
The present inventors have invented an oceanic thermal power generator (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 1,989/92) and a control device in oceanic thermal power generation (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 1,990/92).
In the oceanic thermal power generator of this kind, a Rankine cycle or regenerating cycle is formed by utilizing the so-called single component medium having high purity, such as ammonia, flon, water and the like as a working fluid.
In the known Rankine cycle, thermal efficiency is small, so that the areas of an evaporator and a condenser become enormous, and generating cost becomes expensive. In order to eliminate this disadvantage, a cycle utilizing a mixture of ammonia and water as a working fluid has been proposed. This is called "calina cycle". In this calina cycle, thermal efficiency becomes high as compared with the conventional Rankine cycle, but thermal efficiencies of the evaporator and condenser are lowered, so that there is a disadvantage of cancelling the increased thermal efficiency with the saving cost. Moreover, the whole amount of mixed vapor is passed through a condenser, an area of the condenser becomes larger than the ranking cycle, a flow rate of the low heat source increases, the cost for constructing a generator becomes high, and power for sending a low heat source and a high heat source becomes large, so that this cycle is not economically advisable.